EUROPEANS

JUST WHEN EUROPE THOUGHT IT HAD OVERCOME MILITARISM

Before 2022, Europe’s militaristic symbols seemed outdated, reflecting a past that had been left behind. What Europe appeared to have achieved was a transition from oppression, war and militarism to political compromise, sportsmanship, and cultural exchange. National identities no longer had to be forcibly imposed on the continent’s diverse populations. The belief was that Europe’s values of diversity, liberalism and civility would triumph over the empty nationalism of old—without ever returning to the battlefield. It was this very idea that led to contrast Europeans in their nations’ 19th-century uniforms. Just a year before the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine brought war back to Europe.